J.P.R. Williams

John Peter Rhys Williams is a former rugby union footballer who is best known for representing Wales at international level during arguably their most successful period in history. Following on from his retirement from the sport, JPR has ventured into the medical profession as an orthopaedic surgeon whilst remaining tied to rugby as the President of the Bridgend Ravens.

Throughout his amateur sports career, Williams showed strengths as a tennis player whilst also building up his incredible skills within rugby as he played during the 1968 Open Era at the Hard Court Championships of Great Britain. With his mission being to venture into a career in medicine, he turned his focuses to amateur rugby as a new hobby but his natural sportsmanship and ability soon captured the attention of a variety of professional clubs including the Welsh national team.

Since his first cap at the age of 19 in 1969, Williams has gone onto make a total of 55 appearances for Wales and has also secured an impressive eight games for the British Lions. He has also become a pivotal player in the Welsh team’s three history-making Grand Slams, was part of the British Lion’s squad that was victorious at the 1971 series and contributed to the Barbarians try that is now recognised as the greatest to have ever been scored. An undeniably successful rugby performance led to his MBE appointment and his induction to the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 1997, before he announced his retirement from international rugby to focus on his dreams within medicine.

After a period of playing club rugby for teams including Bridgend and Tondu Thirds, Williams eventually retired from rugby entirely well into his fifties. Since then, he has gained a qualification as a physician from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School and has also been named a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He still remains a huge name within sport, with organisations such as Move Sports selecting him as the ambassador of the 2012 Portugal Rugby Festival. His generosity and dedication to making a difference have taken him to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in aid of NSPCC’s Full Stop campaign, helping to raise over £200,000.

Equipped with a driven and can-do mindset, JPR Williams is an incredibly inspiring after-dinner speaker. With an abundance of knowledge and a long list of valuable skills to both corporate and sports organisations, Williams can cover topics including maintaining drive, determination and mental resilience, achieving peak performance and the effective teamwork skills that rugby players are renowned for.